Evaluation of the reporting system of transfusion reactions at Brest University Hospital

The Haemovigilance Unit of Brest University Hospital has had a reporting sy stem of transfusion reactions since october 1994. Reporting "any unexpected or undesirable effect due or likely to be due to the administering of bloo d cell components" must be done on an answering machine immediately or in t he next eigth hours. The main goal of the evaluation of this epidemiologica l surveillance system was to assess its sensitivity, its positive predictiv e value, its acceptability, its timeliness and its simplicity, according to the Centers for Disease Control criteria. An exhaustive monitoring of the immediate transfusion reactions (ITR) occurring within the 24 hours followi ng the procedure was conducted from April 1, to June 30, 1998. Two sources of information were used, the spontaneous notification to the Haemovigilanc e Unit using the answering machine, and a telephone survey of the nurse res ponsable for the transfusion or post-transfusion follow-up. During the surv ey, 19 ITR, among which 12 were reported to the Haemovigilance Unit on the answering machine, were recorded. The incidence rate of the I.T.R. was esti mated at 5 parts per thousand transfused blood cell components. The sensiti vity of the notification system was estimated at 63% (95% confidence interv al: 41-85) and the positive predictive value at 70% (95% confidence interva l: 48-92). This notification system is operational. The function of sanitar y alert is ensured at the primary level of the system surveillance. The und ernotification of the ITR (37% of false negative) must be corrected by spec ific recommendations. (C) 2001 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.